April

With Hines Ward out two WR step out of the shadow and could post big fantasy numbers, Emanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown. Sanders gets the start here, but Brown may be the better play. Brown has almost been utilized as another Mike Wallace so expect a deep bomb or two to go his way. With those deep throws look for a td as well. It seems obvious to assume the Patriots vs Steelers matchup will be a shootout, experience shows that this could be a 17-10 as opposed to a 34-31 game. Hearing a lot of comparisons between Cam Newton and Tim Tebow relating to fantasy. In my opinion it’s not even close because of Newton’s ability to throw the ball. Tebow will get his fantasy stats maybe 100 yards passing and 60 yds rushing a TD in each category which leads to about 20 points or the equivalent of a a 300 yd passing game with 2 tds. My fantasy issue with Tebow is he is a selfish fantasy player. Throwing for sub 100 yard games kills any WR threat Denver has, and the running game gets shutdown because Tebow dominates not only the redzone but also between the 20’s. Tebow does not make any teammate better where Newton at least make the receiving core of the Panthers playable. The redzone situation in Carolina is still the same.

Several injuries and Byes have left teams scrambling for a running back this week. Tim Hightower (out for the season), Willis Mcgahee (broken hand), Cedric Benson (jail/suspension who knows), Mark Ingram (bruised heel), Joseph Addai (hamstring), Earnest Graham (out for the season) that is a large list of RB 2/3 or Flex plays to deal with chances are teams are scrambling to fill the gaps. Some previous years fantasy assets are now back in play in Knowshon Moreno and Pierre Thomas one highly touted rookie to go with a sneaky time share man in Roy Helu and Ryan Torain come to mind. Bernard Scott and Brian Leonard are ready for the monthly Cedric Benson jail/suspension watch, and he has a bye this week but Kevin Lumpkin becomes the man in Tampa if Blount can’t go. If I am a Chris Johnson owner i hope he runs wild against the Colts just so I can up his trading value, he leads the list of underperforming RB’s that includes Rashard Mendenhall and Steven Jackson. Now is a great time to trade Plaxico on his 3 td performance and name hopefully somebody bites because it’s not getting any better than 4 catches for 25 yds and 3 tds.

This is for all those fantasy owners celebrating their luck of the draw for not having to face Brady, Welker, and company in a scheduling advantage this week. Sad news out of Detroit is that Jahvid Best is being encouraged to miss the rest of the season with concussion symptoms. The Lions tried to help their situation by bringing in Ronnie Brown, but the deal was voided due to Jerome Harrison’s health. Brown most likely would have a decent play in Detroit, but for now he is still relegated to the bench in Philadelphia avg just under 6 yds a game. Maurice Morris for now will be the starter in Detroit I wouldn’t expect miracles here he has never avg more than 50 yds a game, and that was years ago. Most likely scenario is Detroit just passes more. i would look into picking up another backup instead if they are still available such as Jackie Battle, Demarco Murray, or Earnest Graham. Exciting news out of San Diego Gates is back listed as questionable for this weekends game and practicing on Friday. Gates owners have had a tough pick to chew on knowing the injury risk/reward of Gates. When he plays he is the best, but the games played continues to diminish. Fantasy “shocker” of the week looking for the Cowboys to roll up some big numbers on the Rams this includes Romo, Bryant, Austin, Whitten, Murray, and their Defense. It is the old start’em all advice.

Tebow is the hot topic this week, but rabid fans will have to wait until after the bye week for their savior to come. My advice on Tebow if you don’t have a QB get him, QB has a bye week 7 or 8 get him, if you do have a QB maybe look at picking up something more useful than a backup quarterback. Looking at rankings for most leagues Tebow should not be started over Brees, Brady, Romo, Rodgers, Rivers, Newton, Stafford, Vick, Schaub, and Roethlesberger. So that is 10 QB’s now it could be argued that Tebow shouldn’t start over Eli Manning, Ryan, and Fitzpatrick. In a 12 team league that covers most starting QB’s leaving Tebow in line for a top backup spot in most leagues comparable to Flacco, Hasselbeck, Freeman, and Cutler not bad for an average NFL QB, but in fantasy there shouldn’t be too much hype on picking up a good backup QB for your already good QB. Trade chip wise he is an asset no doubt, but like I said earlier looking to stock your bench doesn’t really help your scoring output. Guys that can make a possible immediate impact as a starting wr, rb, te, or flex should be given more consideration those names include Doug Baldwin, Jake Ballard, Benjamin Watson, Steve Breaston, Darius Heyward-Bey, Kendal hunter, Delone Carter, and Jackie Battle (all players owned in less than 25% of fantasy leagues). So just like in real life Tebow won’t lead you to a championship, but he does make fantasy football more exciting.

Bye week season is upon us, and opportunity is there to upgrade your team. On draft day most overlook bye week which is smart when drafting. You don’t want one week to pre determine your draft strategy, but once your roster is in place it is helpful to plan ahead. Your bench comes in handy for two reasons here. The obvious one is replacements for bye week players, but your bench should also be used to take advantage of other owners who have byes and set yourself up fr the long run. Look at teams in your league that are 1-3 and 0-4 they have to win now so scooping up a better player on a bye from them is easier when offering a bench player they can fill their roster spot with for the week. Owners with opposite records 4-0 and 3-1 will also be looking to improve therefore more willing to trade so the time is right to strike a deal.

Week 4 is about to get rolling, so we are almost a quarter of the way through the season. In hindsight Drafting Brady in the first round and Welker in the 2nd could be leading you to a championship. Reminiscent of Brady and Moss circa 07 this duo is tearing it up currently ranked #1 and #2 in the fantasy world. So much for Ochocinco getting the bump it’s been PPR standout Welker that has benefited the most from the Brady uprising from a Top 5 QB to without a doubt the best QB in the NFL. True QB’s picked before him Brees and Rodgers have performed up to their standards, but Brady has played out of this world. i can’t imagine any team owning both of these guys is anything less than 3-0. As for the mid round RB upswing, there always is one i am looking at Ryan Matthews as the man of the hour currently ranked #10 after being selected anywhere from the 5th-10th round even behind his backfield mate Mike Tolbert. So far he looks like the real deal just a season behind his 1st round projections of a year ago. On the same note Fred Jackson’s middle round status has been upgraded significantly he is currently ranked ahead of Matthew’s at #7. There are always a few who turn their game up a notch the tricky part is drafting a couple and hoping one pans out.

It’s a week early, but savvy fantasy owners make moves before the competition. Week 5 byes include the Cowboys, Ravens, Browns, Dolphins, Redskins, and Rams. The first two teams on the list have heavily used fantasy options that owners will have to replace. Bernard Scott is the man to target with Cedric Benson’s pending 3 game suspension, though it looks like he will play while the appeal process goes through in week 4. Scott should get the bulk of the carries shared with Brian Leonard, but Scott’s big play ability makes him an enticing option to own. He will also score points in the passing game especially in PPR leagues. Another intriguing add is Steven Ridley of the Patriots averaging 5.9 yds per rush this season. Nobody in the backfield has put up starter worthy numbers in the Pats pass happy scheme, but this preseason darling had his best game last week with 6 rushes for 42 yards and an 8 yard reception he should be good for 8-10 touches a game.

Every week it seems like some unknown unowned player goes off for a big fantasy day week 3 was no exception two backup wide receivers went big for their respective teams. Torrey Smith and Victor Cruz parlayed starting opportunities into big fantasy days. The crazy thing is both guys only had 3 and 5 receptions yet Cruz turned in 110 yds and 2 tds while Smith turned his 5 receptions into 152 yds and 3 touchdowns. Smith started for the injured Lee Evans and Cruz played in place of Mario Manningham (Nicks is banged up and Hixon is on IR as well). Moving forward these guys are both spot starters with the potential for more if they can unseat their replacements. For next week I like Cruz over Smith based on his matchup at Arizona while Smith has to face the Jets. interesting to keep an eye on these two. it is quite possible that they are one week wonders and just fizzle out, but you have to gamble sometimes.

For some of you it’s down to Monday night and some big ifs. Tony Romo, Felix Jones, and Dez Bryant are all heavily owned fantasy commodities that may play on Monday night. If you had a sufficient replacement it was recommended to go with the safer option that plays on Sunday just in case you go with the big zero on Monday night if they don’t play. Right now it looks like Romo and Bryant should play especially with Miles Austin already ruled out. So we spoke of the safe strategy, but if you are a gambler like myself before roster moves shut down I picked up Rex Grossman to swap in if Romo is ruled out. Grossman is nowhere near Romo’s equal, but the strategy can pay off. Looks like Kenny Britt’s promising season as a premier WR is down for the count, bump up Nate Washington and clear an IR spot for Britt. Peyton Manning has been ruled out for the rest of the year so it looks like a long season for Colt fans and fantasy owners invested in Colts. He is not on the injury report, but something has to be wrong with Chris Johnson he looks bad and continues to post 1st half stat lines like 7 carries for 8 yards. I have never had the privilege of being a CJ owner, glad I am not now, and another owner to feel sorry for.

It has been a little bit since my last post, I’ve been on a little hiatus doing hiatus things. Sorry to disappoint my four readers. Anyways digging a little deeper into keeper leagues Devone Bess is the epitome of a mediocre regular fantasy football player who shines in the PPR format. His percentage owned has risen in the last week due to his solid in any league performance of 5 catches for 92 yards (He should have had a touchdown that was ruled down at the one inch line). Bess is a lock for 70 receptions most likely 80 and is only owned in half of the leagues. He may only get 700-800 yards and a meager 4 tds, but if you move his fantasy points around he is a 50 reception 1000 yd receiver with 6 tds he just scores his points differently than others because his primary weapon is the quantity of looks he gets and safety valves he provides for Chad Henne. Henne wasn’t too shabby in his QB duel with Tom Brady. it was a record-breaking week for 300 yd and 400 yd passers, Henne was one of the 400 yard passers. Look for Henne to have to play at that pace again as the Dolphins are forced to play catch up with the potent Texans offense.